Watch your Wallets

by Mike Jopek

Here we go again. Guess they thought that 2023 didn’t hurt the middle class enough. Montana’s 2025 reappraisal indicates that existing homes, not new construction, increased $46 billion more in market value. Existing Main Street business increased $3 billion in market value over the past couple years.

This upcoming 2025 revaluation cycle is on top of the 2023 property tax increases which caused ongoing distress across Montana over the past years and put local safety levies in danger. Combined, the market value of existing homes increased $106 billion while existing businesses saw a $7 billion increase in valuation in just four years due to two state tax revaluations.

Those increases are aimed squarely at middle Montana homeowners, living in the most rural of states. The 2023 cycle increased overall home property taxes by $500 million over the past two-year biennium according to the state revenue department. That’s ongoing, permanently escaping taxpayer’s wallets with another $500 million due over the next couple years.

In total the 2023 reappraisal alone will cost homeowners $1 billion over four years. And future tax increases compound, ongoing permanently until the Legislature acts.

All this because Montana suddenly stopped equalizing and neutralizing the cyclical effects of property tax reappraisals. State lawmakers spiked the taxable valuation of homes to such stratospheric levels that local mill levies reassigned huge amounts of tax responsibilities – previously paid for by pipelines, telecommunications, or railroads – onto homeowners to pick up the tab for the new corporate welfare.

Montana’s 2025 reappraisal cycle brings more dim news with the same tax shifting and evermore cost for homes. Homeowners and Main Street businesses pay for the ongoing increases of 2023 and now the 2025 valuation cycle. That’s a massive amount of new funds to the state. It will surely pay for a lot of top-end income tax cuts as lawmakers shuffle money.

I commented to the Legislature last week, reminding lawmakers to take the $500 million out of the state budget and revenue projections, let homeowners and Main Street businesses just keep their money. There’s no need for the state to overtax homes and business by a half billion.

When I had the privilege of sitting in those same chairs, in that gorgeous capitol building, there were no state budget increases for homeowner and Main Street business from property revaluations. Homes and Main Street businesses should pay no more state taxes after reappraisal than before. To equalize homes, lawmakers could return state property taxes back to pre 2023 taxable levels.

By simply reducing the state tax rates, past governors kept homes and small business balanced with big industry and stopped the potential of massive corporate welfare at the local level.

Montana law and constitution are rather blunt that lawmakers and the governor have a responsibility to neutralize and equalize the cyclical effects of property tax reappraisals so homes don’t pay more after the state revaluation.

Last month, homeowners from Butte-Silver Bow County filed suit against the State of Montana and the Department or Revenue alleging that they failed to equalize and adjust all taxable property in the state as required by Article VIII, Section 3 of the Montana Constitution and MCA 15-9-101.

This lawsuit portends big fiscal liability to Montana. The state could be on the hook to return to homeowners as much as a half billion from property tax reappraisals.

Lawmakers should simply cut the property tax rates for the past two reappraisal cycles and let homeowners and small business keep their money. No need for refunds, rebates or whatever other paperwork the elite say we need. Just let us pay less, like always. Bingo!

The current scheme to overtax homes and then use those dollars elsewhere to help another class of constituents is an enormous redistribution of wealth with homeowners losing. It seems lawmakers won’t be completely happy until homes pay all of the local property taxes and industry pays none.

There’s no homeowner lobbyist in Helena. We expect lawmakers to work for the people who live in the Treasure State. Better watch your wallets if this Legislature budgets like the last.

They’ll blame everyone and holler at local schools and towns. Yet, it’s lawmakers and the governor who are increasing your Montana home property taxes to historic levels. They put your cash into their state budget.